


When I Was Done Dying

by Gourdon_Ramsay



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Lore - Freeform, Slow Burn, main oc is she/they for very personal reasons, socioeconomic commentary on stardew cause im a huge nerd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-20 16:46:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30007893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gourdon_Ramsay/pseuds/Gourdon_Ramsay
Summary: Having gotten tired of corporate life working for Joja in Zuzu City, Quinn abandons it for the farm her grandfather left her years prior. Thinking it awash and debating selling it to Joja Corporate, Quinn changes her mind after a chance meeting that pushes her to stay in Pelican Town and ultimately, alter the very fabric of her life for all time.
Relationships: Harvey (Stardew Valley)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 8





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> this is very personal to me
> 
> thank you for reading

She was jolted awake by the bus's wheels running ramshod over a deep pothole in the road. Looking over to the other side of the aisle, she saw the seat next to her was now empty.  _ They must have left _ , she thought, her thoughts groggy. Gazing around the bus for a moment, she realized that it was only herself and the driver now. Yawning and rubbing her eyes, she sat up in her seat and stretched—her arms going over her head for a moment, her back cracking—before she sighed and relaxed against the purple swathed cloth bus seat decorated haphazardly with strange art deco shapes. Her hands ran through her short auburn hair, gripping it at the roots and pulling ever so slightly (It stuck up in every direction regardless of what she did to it.) Looking to the left, across the aisle and out the window onto the other side of the road, she saw a sign that read,  _ Stardew Valley - 0.5 Miles _ . She nodded her head silently as she looked back out her own window, scanning the horizon for the exit ramp. It had been years since she’d been here, and that same familiar feeling of warmth and peace was beginning to rise at the back of her mind. The memories of her grandfather's truck bouncing down the same highway all those years ago—sitting in the passenger seat next to him, the windows rolled down and the warm summer air whipping at her (then long) auburn hair—brought a slow, sad smile across her face. 

Outside, the weather was a perfectly crystal clear day, blue skies and a slight breeze with the gentlest of white clouds rolling overhead. Admittedly, it was more beautiful and serene than she thought it would be when she left Zuzu City that morning. She pushed her forehead against the cool glass of the window, feeling the vibrations from the road through her whole head as she did so. Idly, she noticed the letter that her grandfather had left her in the pocket of her dark green sweatshirt. It crinkled and crunched as she shifted in her seat, pulling her face away from the glass and sitting back upright once more, slouching against the clothed seat. 

The driver’s monotone voice came over the speaker system: “ _ Stardew Valley, next stop” _ . And with that, she sat up, back straight and firm, her hands clenched in fists in her sweatshirt pockets. But that same familiar anxious wave washed over her. That little voice in her head whispering insidiously to her that this was a mistake; that there would be nothing for her here; that it would be a miracle if she lasted a month. But she had never been anything if not determined…or bullheaded—whichever phrasing was most apropos. Bending over, she rummaged around on the floor for her backpack and shoved her headphones back into the front pouch, zipping the bag up with decided urgency. Folding her hands in her lap now, she waited and watched. The bus’s turn signal came on with an echoing  _ click clack, _ and the driver whistled as he effortlessly directed the bus to the right exit and down into the valley below. 


	2. Doubts

The bottle of wine—which she’d finished off all by herself while sitting at the end of the pier at the end of the worst week of her life—was now steadily floating out to sea. She sighed and laid backwards, head spinning, her eyes focusing desperately on the stars above in the inky blackness. The wind off the ocean was surprisingly cold for spring. 

“Who the hell are you?” An incredulous drunken voice wavered behind her. She sat up groggily, heart pounding, head swimming. 

“I’m, uh...I’m the new farmer...or...whatever.” She struggled to stand, but the man simply plopped down next to her and took a swig from his own bottle. 

“The new farmer? Of that old place at the end of the lane? Looks like shit.” He took another swig. She nodded her head as she simply wrapped her arms around her legs, drawn up close to her chest. “I don't know what the fuck you can farm there.” He burped. “It’s been abandoned...for like...fucking ever. I don’t even remember....remember the dude who ran it before. Before my time.” He rolled his eyes, taking a healthy gulp from his bottle once more. A slow smile spread across her face. Her eyes distant as she stared out across the ocean, knowing that beyond that darkness, somewhere, was the Gotoro Empire; waiting in the obscurity of night. 

“My grandfather,” she said quietly, her voice slurring. “My grandfather ran it. It was...it was his. I can’t remember the name though. I was too young when he died.” She sat still, feeling hot tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Her drinking companion didn’t seem to notice. 

“Oh fuck, I didn’t know that. That blows.” He swirled the bottle by the neck, the liquid inside the glass sloshing against the interior. “So why are you here?” His voice was sluggish but to the point; honest. She squinted, once more looking off into the distance across the ocean. As though she’d be able to see something, anything, out there amongst all that blackness. She let out a heavy sigh, her arms unwrapping themselves from around her knees and she flopped backwards onto the pier with a resounding thud that she knew she’d regret in the morning. 

“Honestly? I don’t know.” She laughed; a bitter dry thing. Her companion said nothing, but snorted his laughter. Once more taking a sip from the bottle he held. 

“That’s stupid. How do you not know? You have to know, you came here on purpose.” He leaned backwards, sitting the bottle down between his crossed legs, leaning back on his hands against the wood of the old pier. She closed her eyes as she spoke, as though that might stop the stars in the sky from spinning; her vision now becoming blurred at the edges from all that wine. 

“I don’t know. I...I worked for...Joja Corporate in Zuzu City. But...a co-worker, not really a friend just….just someone I knew, you know?” Her companion didn’t nod, he simply listened, staring off across the water; waiting. “Well...she died and...it was bad. She was murdered. Mugging gone wrong I guess.” She waved her hand vaguely in the air as she spoke, “I never really knew the details, never asked, but...the company didn’t wait a day before clearing her desk off and filling her cubicle with someone else. I just...it was fucked up, you know? It was a level of greed I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t be near it.” The waves of the ocean broke through her warbled words, crashing down now on the shores behind them both, under the pier. “The way my manager just...said this obligatory speech and then expected us to just...keep going. I’d had enough, and...I remembered that my grandfather left me this.” She waved her hand backwards, vaguely once more, towards the farm. “I guess I just thought it would be worth it, but…” she chuckled again, it was humorless. Her drinking companion said nothing, but sat up. The sounds of the ocean softly rumbling beneath the pier. The boats docked against it, swayed gently in the night time breeze. 

“Sounds fucking shitty. What are you gonna do? Can you even farm?” His voice was warbling and uneven and he kept swaying with every word, but she knew she would be no better were she sitting up. In fact, she didn’t sit up, didn’t even try. She simply raised her hips and dug around in the front pocket of her jeans. Grunting, she pulled a crumpled up piece of paper out of her pocket. She held it up against the pitch black sky, the night’s stars watching down on her. “Joja Corporation wants to buy the land from me. Got the letter in the mail today. Guess they wanna bulldoze everything and use it to put up a big store. Get traffic to come down here from the main highway. Maybe put in a gas station. Who fucking knows.” She sighed, letting her hands fall to her chest, the paper with them; letting it lay against her as though she hoped the wind would take the offer away. 

“How much?” Her companion asked, again taking a drink. 

“Eight hundred thousand and some change.” Her companion whistled, a sharp piercing sound; he laughed. 

“That’s a lot of coins for grandpappy's hard work.” 

“Yeah, don’t I know it.” She pushed the paper back into her pocket and began the arduous task of sitting up. “I don’t know though. Seems…wrong.” Her companion nodded.

“Yeah, kind of throwing away any chance to fix whatever problem pushed you here, I guess.” He handed her the bottle. “I’m Shane. I work for JojaMart, I just stock shitty shelves with shitty items.” He laughed outright at his own joke, but there was no mirth to it. She finished the bottle and slammed the empty glass down onto the pier. With one swift motion, she held out her hand towards Shane, “I’m Quinn. I can’t farm, I don’t even know where to start. But...I don’t want to give this to JojaMart.” Shane swayed a bit, then his eyes focused on her hand and he shook it. It was sweaty; neither minded.

“Well, I can’t farm either, but...might be better than giving it to JojaMart, yeah?” He gave a dry chuckle, and they both fell into silence. The sound of the waves prevailed once more; crashing against the soft white sands. Quinn felt the letter from the Joja Corporation in her pocket and fished it out once more, her bleary vision running over the offer again. Jumping from one word to another to another. Her face pulled into a grimace, and she found herself balling it up as tightly as she could. And with all the force her drunken self could muster, she threw it into the ocean. 

“There. Now I don’t have any choice. Now I have to learn how to fucking farm.” Shane laughed outright at that. 

“There’s some people in town I think you’re gonna wanna talk to then,” Shane replied,“But...tomorrow…ߵcause right now....I’m gonna hurl.” And hurl he did. And Quinn waited for him to finish, listening to the distant sound of upchucking and the splashing into the sea. She smiled a knowing smile, knowing she would surely be doing that, too, before daybreak. 


End file.
